


Only Fools Rush In

by RebornySuperbia



Series: I'll be yours, completely. (or the saga of Jack and Bella) [1]
Category: Actor RPF, Australian Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Pride and Prejudice and Zombie RPF
Genre: Break Up, Crushes, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, HONESTLY NO ONE ELSE SHIPS THIS (OR SHOULD), Moral Dilemmas, THIS IS SELF-INDULGENT, but if you do, please hmu we're like 3 who ship it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 11:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6609379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebornySuperbia/pseuds/RebornySuperbia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bella didn't respond to his flirting, Jack decided not to dwell too much on the thought that there might be something. Years later, they meet again while filming PPZ. Just when he thought he was over his crush, he realized that he wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Fools Rush In

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to post this a series, because they could be read as stand-alones. So far, I wrote three shots, but they're pretty much chronological. But eh, if ya'll wanna join in on this fun little ship, please do.  
> Also, disclaimer: I used my knowledge of the cast from what I gathered in interviews and stuff. And I really don't want Shannan and Jack to break up, honestly. Although I do want Jack and Bella to get together. I'm a confused 21 year old girl who wrote this fic because she was escaping assignments. fml.

Jack Huston was a terrible, _terrible_ , human being. There was nothing he could do that could possibly make him feel better about himself. He was the _worst_.

He loves Shannan, or, he loved her, and he loves his two little angels. But that wasn’t enough for him, apparently. He had to go and fuck everything up because he could not maintain a happy life. He was perfectly fine until he had to act with Bella again.

He had first met Bella when they first casted her in Not Fade Away, back in 2010. He was single at the time, and not really interested in a relationship. But he couldn’t deny that he was, just a little bit, attracted to Bella. Maybe a little bit in love, but that was an exaggeration. He tried, once or twice, to flirt with her, but she didn’t seem to get it, and it all turned into a good friendship.

Then, he met Shannan. He and Bella stayed friends, but it was more of a once-a-year-email kind of friendship. They rarely saw each other after Not Fade Away.

He thought he was set for life; a wonderful partner and a beautiful daughter. He was reunited with Bella for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and they shared a scene or two together. It was something he was grateful for, working with people he was familiar with. Douglas and Sam were old acquaintances of his, and Matt Smith was just a delight to be around. Lily was wonderful, and Bella was… Bella. She was enchanting him and didn’t realize it.

It was one of the days where he wasn’t required on set, but showed up, as they were going for drinks after. He stayed behind the camera and lounged around until they were done with their scenes. Bella was last, and they were shooting a scene where she had to handle a giant zombie in the field after her horse abandons her. Jack didn’t realize he was _staring_.

Bella moved swiftly, avoiding the bite of the zombie. She manages to slice its arm and behead him. She stepped on its head, and the director calls for a cut. Her serious expression slowly brightened and her eyes moved to the director. “Was that good?” she asked breathlessly. And for a moment, Jack felt like he couldn’t breathe properly as well.

She looked beautiful, her blue eyes bright and excited. Her mouth was twisted into an enchanting smile. She walked towards the director and nodded determinately at every note he gave her. Jack was just behind him. Bella’s eyes drifted to him and he smiled brightly. She mouthed a “hello” and her eyes returned to the director. Jack nodded and smiled, then quickly turned and walked away, very far, where no one could find him.

Taking a deep breath, Jack reminded himself that he is in a committed relationship, and that he is expecting another child – a boy! – So he shouldn’t really have felt old flames rekindle themselves in his heart. That was just ridiculous, absurd, _insane._ She was his friend, and she was vital to their group of friends. Ruining his life in pursuing Bella would mean that he would ruin the whole structure of the group.

He paused for a moment, collected his thoughts, and leaned against the wall. He wasn’t supposed to think that way. What he felt a few minutes ago could just be a one-time thing. It was alright, he thought. He won’t fuck up his life.

Jack felt someone approaching him. He saw Sam walking towards him, in his full Darcy outfit, a cigarette between his lips. Jack smiled slightly, and Sam nodded.

“Smoke break?” Jack asked when Sam stood next to him and leaned against the wall.

Sam nodded and exhaled. “I’m almost done. The girls are. Bella just finished.” He pointed and Jack decided not to look and just nod. “Douglas is changing. You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up at the pub.”

Again, Jack only nodded. Sam dropped his cigarette on the floor and stepped on it. He lifted his eyes and met Jack’s. “You’re awfully quiet,” he commented.

Jack slightly flinched. “Lack of sleep,” he replied. Sam held his gaze for a moment before nodding. Jack thought that he seemed doubtful, but decided to not comment or assure him. The other walked away from him, and Douglas suddenly emerged, wrapping his arms around Jack.

Lily and Matt appeared after him, waving excitedly. Jack greeted them, giving them a genuine smile. He had mentioned that Sam would join them after he finished the day’s scenes. As he was catching up with them – and replying to Matt’s inquiries about little Sage – Bella walked towards them, out of her Jane outfit and in something comfortable. When she saw him, she brightened up and waved at him. “Jack! Hello!”

And there it was… that dreadful flutter that he felt before in his heart. He supposed that he should smile back at her, lest she thinks that he was pissed at her or something. She approached him and hugged him briefly. “So glad you get to join us! Your role has sort of alienated you from us.”

Jack quickly gathered up his courage before the others noticed how flustered he was, and replied, “Oh, don’t give poor Wickham a hard time. It’s not his fault he’s not cool enough to join you.” He pouted his bottom lip and she laughed. It seemed like the others have, too, but he was too engrossed in hers that he hardly noticed. It was, he thought gravely, a dire situation that he was in. And he needed to act on it like an adult.

He was being dragged away from her. It was Douglas, saying something about time passing and them not having all day. The others followed suit.

×

Yes, maybe the flame has been rekindled, and the affection Jack felt for Bella the first time he met her were back. But he was fine. He was going to be fine. He went back home (sober, thankfully) and saw Shannan, and his heart melted at the sight of her. This was the woman he loved, the woman he was committed to.

Jack had nothing to fear. He was going to have a son, and with Shannan, he will be able to raise two beautiful angels.

The inventible, though, he couldn’t predict. He didn’t think that he would actually fall out of love with Shannan, especially while she was pregnant. Terrible, he thought. He was a terrible, despicable human being. How could he allow himself to fall in love, over the course of filming the movie, with his _best friend_ , whom he has known for years? What would he gain from this? He told himself, over and over again, that he would end up hurting a lot more people that way.

When shooting wrapped-up, the members in the group were instantly busy with other projects. He started getting ready to film Ben-Hur. He hadn’t managed to get together with all of them, but Bella kept in touch frequently, as she also lived in the States. That didn’t help, he thought. That didn’t help _at all_. She texted him once a week, asking how his week was, and he tried not to elaborate too much. Keyword is _tried_.

When Comic-Con arrived, he was reunited with his friends (and Sam’s horrendous mustache). He had one of the interviewers that he was glad to be here because they were all together again. True as it was, he couldn’t deny the fact that he was more than glad to see Bella. Matt had joked to the whole group that Jack’s favorite friend is Bella. Jack had probably made the mistake of not laughing at it and seeming uninterested.

But it was obvious to the rest that he did in fact prefer Bella over the rest of them – in a certain way, that is. Sam was the first one to take notice of it. Jack didn’t realize that Sam watched him every time he spoke to Bella. And Jack, like the idiot, he was, could not stop being next to her in pictures, in interviews, and could not stop talking to her.

At one point, she had joked about something, and he laughed loudly while the rest of the group booed her. “At least he appreciates my jokes,” Bella said and pouted. She leaned on him and stared at them with a frown, and it made her look completely and utterly adorable. He had nodded and smiled proudly. He caught Sam staring intensely at him amidst the objections of the rest of his friends. Sam smirked knowingly.

He took him aside a few minutes later and casually said, “You might want to start laughing less.”

At one point, he had delivered his answer in a way that could be misunderstood as something inappropriate. “I think there’s a bit of each of us in everyone,” he said, and it suddenly downed on him how terrible that sounded. But Bella giggled loudly and ducked forward, slightly covering her mouth. He turned to her and bit his bottom lip before he turned back to Douglas, who continued the interview like he did not say anything. She had heard, and she was the only who heard him.

And when it came time to play a game, she kept going against the cast with her opinions. He turned to her and commented on it, trying to chastise her. Bella quickly became defensive. “I like that!” she said while the others agreed. He agreed as well, very enthusiastically. As they were all agreeing, he said, “I’m into that, it’s good!” and again, he was glad no one heard him.

But Sam did, and after the interview, he gave him a warning look. “You should be careful,” he whispered to him before they all moved to the next interview.

Then it was evident, Jack thought. He was very much in love with Bella, and it was too late to get away from it.

When they all went to the hotel bar after the con (except Sam who decided he was too tired), Jack took Bella out of the bar, saying that he would like a companion as he smoked. He had addressed them all, but knowing how much they didn’t appreciate the idea of smoking, he knew that Bella would not refuse his pleas.

Plus, if he was going to do this, he needed to be calm and collected.

With a slightly shaky hand, he lit his cigarette and took a drag, exhaling softly. She was slightly confused on why he brought her out. “Listen, I’m glad you were the one who came out here with me. This might change the way you look at me. But please, Bella, I need your help on this.”

Bella smiled and nodded quickly. “Don’t worry, whatever it is, I’ll try my best to help you with it.”

Jack took a deep breath. “Have you ever decided that your life was going to be fine, and your set for the rest of it, and suddenly, one thing just comes and changes that?”

Bella thought for a moment before nodding. “Is it for the good, or is it for the bad?”

Jack laughed, leaning back on the wall and taking another drag from his cigarette. “Depends on whether I’m going to do something about it or not,” he said.

“About what?” she asked, looking into his eyes. His heart leapt to his throat, and he found it difficult to speak. He cleared his throat.

“I might be falling in love with someone other than Shannan,” he muttered quickly, looking away from her. Bella fell silent. He knew she had heard him loud and clear. For a moment, he thought she might just start lecturing him on how wrong it was, and that he was despicable, but when he turned to look at her, he found her brows knitted in a frown and her thumb pressed against her lips. She was deep in thought, and she looked adorable.

Bella met his gaze, and his willed himself to maintain eye contact. She asked, “How long has it been?”

“Months,” he answered.

“And you honestly feel something for that person, and it’s not just a crush or an infatuation?” she said. Jack nodded. “You sure?” He nodded again.

“But it’s more than just me falling for someone other than my partner, Bella,” he said, and then sighed. “Whole other bad things would happen if I acted on those feelings I have.”

Bella smiled understandingly. “Jack, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, these feelings.” She then paused and collected her thoughts. “I went through this once, a long time ago. I was dating this guy, and I was terrified of cheating on him when I fell in love with another guy. So I made a decision. If I fell in love with two people, I’d pick the second person I fell in love with. It would be the logical thing, because it either means you were never in love with the first person, or you fell out of love.”

Jack was frozen in his place. His tongue was tied and he didn’t know what to say to her. She suddenly flinched. “B-But that doesn’t mean you should leave Shannan! No, I’m not telling you to do that!” she justified quickly.

Jack slightly smiled and hugged him. She squeezed him tightly and sighed. He enjoyed holding her like this, but it felt painful. “Thank you, Bella. Honestly, I needed this.”

Bella grinned and patted his arms. “No problem. But tell me, could the person you’re in love with possibly be… Sam?” she asked, giving him a knowing look.

Jack threw his head back and laughed heartily. He threw his arms over her shoulders and dropped his cigarette, stepping on it. “Alas, Sam has rejected my advances too many times,” he said as they walked back inside. “If I ever confessed to him, he’d press his cigarette butts against my arm.”

Bella giggled, and it made his stomach flutter in all possible, terrible ways. “Gruesome,” she said.

Oh, he was terribly in love with her.

×

Ultimately, he decided to bury those feelings until Shannan gave birth – which was sooner than he had expected – and that he would tell her after.

But Shannan was not stupid. She had seen him around Bella. She had seen the panel at Comic-Con. She knew how he felt about Bella.

She came to him when he was back from the convention, and confronted him.

“Jack,” she said, sitting down next to him. He turned to her and grinned, taking her hand in his. “I need you to be honest with me.”

“Of course,” he said, suddenly concerned.

Shannan smiled and lifted his hand to her lips, brushing them against his knuckles. “Jack, baby, if you ever felt like this… this relationship had run its course, tell me.”

Jack stiffened. He stared down at the ground and gave Shannan’s hand a gentle squeeze. He wet his lips and said, “What makes think that?”

Shannan breathed out a laugh, but then sobbed “Darling, we’re both adults, and we are both aware. You’re the love of my life, and I can feel it if you don’t love me the way you used to.”

Jack clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, willing himself to not let his tears fall. This was his doing, and he agreed, long ago, that he was not going to stop falling in love with Bella.

“Darling,” Shannan said again. “What’s going on?”

Jack opened his eyes, looking at Shannan. “I love you, I always will But-” He took a deep breath. “I don’t _love_ you like I used to. It’s not because you did something, no. I just…” _I’m just an awful human being who fell in love with their best friend, and decided not to repress those feelings. I’m going to hurt you, and I’m going to ruin this family, and possibly my own career. And our son isn’t even born yet._ Jack covered his face and rubbed his eyes.

Shannan wiped her tears and forced another smile. “Jack,” she said softly.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” he said, fingers still pressed into his eyes. “I didn’t cheat, Shannan, I swear. I just didn’t want to hurt you, that’s why I never said anything. I thought I could overcome this, I thought I could work this through. I should’ve told you earlier. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I’m so sorry. I-” Jack took a shaky breath and shuddered.

Shannan again took his hands and kissed them. “We’ll be alright,” she whispered. He laid his head on her lap and sobbed. She ran her hands through his hair, tears running down her cheeks. “Don’t you worry now. I’m not mad at you. I’m not. I’m going to be alright.”

×

They stayed together until Shannan gave birth to Cypress. A week later, she moved out. They figured out their arrangement for the kids, so that Jack and Shannan would take care of them equally. It pained him that they have to live that life.

Once the split was on the news, he got a text from Bella.

**Isabella:** How do you feel?

**Jack:** Terrible.

**Isabella:** :(

**Jack:** Don’t worry, I’ll live through it.

**Isabella:** I’m giving you virtual hugs.

**Jack:** Received :)

Their message group soon flooded with messages.


End file.
